This invention relates to the field of printing and, more particularly, to the production of textured images having three-dimensional topographies.
The production of two-dimensional printed images is readily achieved using methods and materials well known in the printing art. However, in order to produce textured images—for example, fine art prints of oil paintings in which the textures created by the artist's brushstrokes are reproduced in the print—more complex and more costly production procedures are generally required.
One method for producing images having such three-dimensional topographies has been to shape or mold layers of plastic films using heat, pressure, and/or vacuum to provide a textured base, and then apply the desired image onto the molded shape using what are known in the art as transfer methods. An intermediate layer interposed between the molded shape and the ink is generally required to ensure proper adherence of the ink to the molded shape. Such methods of production are elaborate and expensive.
A four-step process for creating textured images is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,664 to Steckler: an acrylic textured relief layer is created from a digital representation of an image; the textured relief layer is then applied to a substrate; an adhesion layer is then applied to the relief layer; and ink is then applied to the adhesion layer. The acrylic materials used to produce the relief layer do not possess adequate adhesive characteristics to be able to retain or hold an ink layer (e.g., col. 1, II. 63-67). As a result, an adhesion layer must be applied, thereby increasing the cost and complexity of the production process.
The present invention is directed to simplifying and improving the production of images having three-dimensional topographies. Materials are described which have the ability to sustain finely detailed textures, and which can be printed upon directly without the intermediacy of adhesive layers.